Social media monitoring is no longer a novelty for brands, said Lauren Harper, Oracle Marketing Cloud’s senior manager of social marketing, in a recent webinar.
“It’s really now become imperative that all brands have some sort of strategy around listening on social media,” she said.
But it’s not just enough to listen. Companies also must act on what they have learned. In any relationship, one must respond to his/her partner’s wishes to keep the love alive, right? So let’s dive into five actionable social listening steps that will help brands improve their content marketing strategies and leave their customers wanting more.
Develop Content Based on the Results You Find
This tip seems like a no-brainer, but it’s an important point to reiterate. What topics are trending in your target market? Do certain questions appear often from customers? What stories do your customers care about?
If a brand isn’t monitoring feedback from its customers, then it could miss opportunities to give them what they want. Brands should check everything from tweets and Facebook comments to Yelp! reviews to provide content that answers customers’ concerns or frequently asked questions.
“Everything is a story,” Harper said. “And listening in is the first step to finding what those stories are.”
By monitoring Twitter, Honda discovered a band that was creating music videos from their cars. The brand showed its appreciation to the Honda owners through its Honda Loves You Back campaign by surprising the band, Monsters Calling Home, with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The Honda Loves You Back campaign resonated with Honda enthusiasts and garnered positive attention from the ad industry and potential customers.